NKLA Adoption Weekend Saves Nearly 400 L.A. Shelter Pets

Emina Wylie of Silverlake adopted two
cats, including Freida, a seven month old, from Best Friends Animal Society Los Angeles at the NKLA Adoption Weekend.

LOS ANGELES  (Nov. 10, 2013)  The lives of close to 400 pets from Los Angeles shelters and rescues were saved during the NKLA Adoption Weekend held at La Brea Tar Pits earlier this month

Cherry, a year-old terrier mix from Baldwin Park Shelter, was one of the first pets adopted over the weekend. I wanted a small dog this age and literally 20 feet into the event, there she was, said John Sherburn of Carson. With hundreds of dogs at shelters, theres no reason to buy a dog. It just doesnt make sense. These are all good dogs.

The popular event was hosted by Best Friends Animal Society and featured more than 40 rescue groups and shelters supporting NKLA (No-Kill Los Angeles), an initiative led by Best Friends Animal Society with a mission of turning L.A. into a No-Kill City by 2017. The NKLA Adoption Weekend is one of several Best Friends Super Adoption events held nationally throughout the year, with dozens of animal welfare organizations and thousands of adoptable dogs and cats participating in a festival-type atmosphere.

Watching shelter pets find a fantastic home is the best part of doing this work. It happens by the hundreds during the NKLA adoption weekend, so we all leave here exhausted but ecstatic, said Marc Peralta, executive director of Best Friends Animal SocietyLos Angeles and NKLA.

Pets at the NKLA Adoption Weekend came from a variety of local shelters and rescues, including LA Animal Services, Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in Mission Hills, LA County Animal Care & Control, Angel City Pit Bulls, Border Collies in Need, Caring Friends Cat Rescue, Hanging with Friends Animal Rescue, K9 Connection, Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, Labs and Friends.org, Tails of the City Cats, Wags and Walks Rescue, and many more.

Pets from both city and county shelters were available with adoption fees starting at $25 and all were spayed or neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEST FRIENDS

Winslow, a young boxer mix from Best Friends Animal Society was very excited to go home with his new family after he was adopted at the NKLA Adoption Weekend at the LaBrea Tar Pits.

A cheer went up in the crowd at the end of NKLA Adoption Weekend when it was announced that all Los Angeles City and County shelter trucks were returning empty, as every available shelter pet had either been adopted or rescued.

Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) staff and volunteers are thrilled that we placed so many dogs and cats in homes of their own, said Brenda Barnette, general manager of LAAS. A big thank you goes to Best Friends for all they do to help make a life-saving difference for Los Angeles animals and the people who love them.

Several animal-loving celebrity supporters of Best Friends Animal Societys lifesaving work entertained and volunteered at the free, family-friendly event, which also featured L.A.s hottest food trucks and the latest pet-related products and services from sponsors PetSmart Charities®, Natural Balance Pet Foods, Banfield Pet Hospital, Mammoth Pet and Dog for Dog.

When I first heard about the NKLA mission, I thought it was a beautiful, but impossible dream. Right now more than 70 different NKLA coalition partners are working together to put a stop to the killing of dogs and cats in L.A. shelters, so that dream is becoming a reality, said actor Miguel Ferrer (NCIS: Los Angeles and Robocop). The NKLA Adoption event is a great way to be a part of things and hopefully meet a new family member.

Mieshelle Nagelschneider, pet behaviorist and author of The Cat Whisperer, was on hand for the entire weekend and thrilled to see so many felines find their forever families.

Many people dont realize that shelter cats have a more difficult time of finding homes than dogs. The more cats and kittens get adopted at events like this or rescued through shelters, the closer we are to turning L.A. into NKLA, Nagelschneider said.

Join NKLA to help turn LA into NKLA: Learn more at www.nkla.org; Adopting a pet: http://nkla.org/Adopt; Fostering a pet: http://nkla.org/Foster; Join NKLA on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NKLA.org; Follow NKLA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NKLA. Give to the NKLA initiative:nkla.org/give or via mobile phone by texting NKLA to 50555 to give $10. MSG&DATA rates may apply.

About Best Friends Animal Society Los AngelesBest Friends Animal Society Los Angeles is working collaboratively with animal rescue groups, city shelters and passionate individuals who are all dedicated to the mission of making Los Angeles a no-kill city. As part of this mission, Best Friends hosts adoption and fundraising events, runs the Best Friends Pet Adoption & Spay Neuter Center in Mission Hills, and leads the NKLA initiative.

About NKLAThe NKLA (No-Kill Los Angeles) initiative includes a coalition of animal welfare organizations, city shelters and passionate individuals, led by Best Friends Animal Society. NKLA is dedicated to ending the killing of healthy and treatable pets in L.A. city shelters by providing spay/neuter services where they are needed most so fewer animals enter shelters; and increasing adoptions through the combined efforts of the NKLA coalition so more animals come out of the shelters and go into new homes. In 2012, the coalition's first year of existence, L.A. shelter deaths decreased 12 months in a row, culminating in 4,200 fewer animals killed than in the year prior. Also in 2012, the NKLA Coalition facilitated 23,421 adoptions and 4,458 spay/neuter surgeries were performed.